"I'll Make A Man Out Of You: Disney Heroes and Male Gender Socialization," Part 1

Of Iconic Mice and a Global Corporation of Men

In his book  The Mouse That Roared, Henry A. Giroux argues that growing media culture has become the primary educational force of meanings, values, and identity in children. This is hardly surprising, given that in 1999, the American Medical Association reported that the single largest stretch of time in an American child’s life was spent in front of a television screen, with the average American spending four hours a day watching television alone (Giroux, 1999: 3). If television and the media play such a significant role in instructing North American children, then it is important to examine these media to understand what lessons their programs are imparting on children in their impressionable, developmental childhood years. 

The Disney Corporation is one of the best examples of child-targeting media. Disney’s influence permeates global culture through advertising, theme parks, television programs, and consumer merchandise. Arguably the most beloved branch of Disney’s extensive industry is its whimsical, animated feature films. Disney has broadcasted for all its products the objective of spreading joy and wonder to people of all ages; however, the true effects of the industry are far more complicated and unsettling.

The wide distribution and popular appeal of Disney movies allows them to spread images, values, and ideals to children across the world, including messages regarding gender. A study by Lonial and Van Auken on message dissemination to children indicates that children wishfully identify with fictional characters. Furthermore, male children are more likely to identify with male characters, while female children exhibit a more flexible range of identification in terms of gender. This study suggests an enormous potential for male fictional characters to influence young boys, emphasized by the evidence that children in grades one to three view their favourite television characters as behavioural role models (Lonial and Van Aucken, 1986: 4).

Critical examination of three title hero characters from popular, animated, Disney feature films released between 1992 and 1999, Hercules, Tarzan, and Aladdin, reveal a rigid collection of gendered messages that could present harmful effects to the early socialization process experienced by young boys. If boys are internalizing the values of their favourite fictional characters to the degree proposed by Lonial and Van Aucken, then the behaviour, relationships, and social roles of Disney heroes will lead them to develop gender identities that are narrowly-defined, restrictive, and ultimately, destructive.

Sources

Giroux, Henry A. The Mouse That Roared: Disney and the End of Innocence. Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 1999. Print.

Lonial, Subhash C. and Stuart Van Auken. “Wishful Identification with Fictional Characters: An Assessment of the Implications of Gender in Message Dissemination to Children.” Journal of Advertising, vol. 15, no. 4 (1986): 4-11, 42. Web. JSTOR. 23 Mar. 2011.